Pitiful marketing effort by the GAA

[Jinxy]

An official attendance of 36,000.
They could have got another 20,000 at least with a bit of effort, even though you could lay on free flights from Cork and you'd still get shag all Rebels to go.
They should have let the Dublin county board market that game.
Didn't hear any radio ads or anything in the week leading up to the final.
They should have dropped the ticket prices and got the word out.
Such a wasted opportunity.
I can't turn on a radio nowadays without some lad roaring at me about "LEINSTER RUGBY!!"
The blazers in HQ would want to wake up.

[orangeman]

An official attendance of 36,000.
They could have got another 20,000 at least with a bit of effort, even though you could lay on free flights from Cork and you'd still get shag all Rebels to go.
They should have let the Dublin county board market that game.
Didn't hear any radio ads or anything in the week leading up to the final.
They should have dropped the ticket prices and got the word out.
Such a wasted opportunity.
I can't turn on a radio nowadays without some lad roaring at me about "LEINSTER RUGBY!!"
The blazers in HQ would want to wake up.

[/b]


I agree and I don;t think many will disagree with your analyis but they know the bonanza in the form of the championship is just around the corner.

[Throw ball]

A shocking way to threat the second biggest competition in the year. As a season ticket holder I was not informed that I could get into these games as part of my ticket - I had to read it on here. If that is all the crowd why did they not try letting school children in or offering family deals for the both days in conjunction with Dublin hotels. Having the finals on Easter Sunday may have reduced the crowd somewhat but some promotion would have helped. On a simple note promotion of the rugby on BBC and TG4 persuaded me to tune into the magners league on Friday night. How many none dedicated GAA followers knew the national league finals were on this weekend?

[Jinxy]

The GAA logic is, if you're anyway interested you'll find out about it yourself!

[thewobbler]

I've been downtgis road before on here.

Don't blame the GAA for the lack of interest - blame the competitors.

Cork won with a fightback that would have graced any sport, at any level. It was almighty.

But when that final whistle went there wasn't so much as a smile from them. It was f**king disgraceful. It was handshakes like the end of Mass. Perception is what people follow, and perception today is that the winning team, weren't that bothered. Why the hell would anyone travel 100 miles from Cork to watch a 'steping stone'. I've seen better celebrated wakes.

We NEED our players and managers showing that it matters.

[Throw ball]

I've been downtgis road before on here.

Don't blame the GAA for the lack of interest - blame the competitors.

Cork won with a fightback that would have graced any sport, at any level. It was almighty.

But when that final whistle went there wasn't so much as a smile from them. It was f**king disgraceful. It was handshakes like the end of Mass. Perception is what people follow, and perception today is that the winning team, weren't that bothered. Why the hell would anyone travel 100 miles from Cork to watch a 'steping stone'. I've seen better celebrated wakes.

We NEED our players and managers showing that it matters.

A bit like the chicken and egg. Do we need the teams or the authorities to show they care first?

[thewobbler]

Chicken and egg nothing. This thread and others like it will be replete with calls to make the league more attractive.

But for so long as the players and managers regard winning games in it as a relief rather than a reward, then it is doomed to mediocrity.

I don't want faux passion, but when every mercenary soccer player wins the Carling Vup, they celebrate like they've won an event. The national league isn't treated like that; it's a burden. It's disgraceful.

[Hoof Hearted]

I've been downtgis road before on here.

Don't blame the GAA for the lack of interest - blame the competitors.

Cork won with a fightback that would have graced any sport, at any level. It was almighty.

But when that final whistle went there wasn't so much as a smile from them. It was f**king disgraceful. It was handshakes like the end of Mass. Perception is what people follow, and perception today is that the winning team, weren't that bothered. Why the hell would anyone travel 100 miles from Cork to watch a 'steping stone'. I've seen better celebrated wakes.

We NEED our players and managers showing that it matters.

A bit like the chicken and egg. Do we need the teams or the authorities to show they care first?

That question has been answered

http://fashionablygeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/which_came_first.jpg

[Jinxy]

I've been downtgis road before on here.

Don't blame the GAA for the lack of interest - blame the competitors.

Cork won with a fightback that would have graced any sport, at any level. It was almighty.

But when that final whistle went there wasn't so much as a smile from them. It was f**king disgraceful. It was handshakes like the end of Mass. Perception is what people follow, and perception today is that the winning team, weren't that bothered. Why the hell would anyone travel 100 miles from Cork to watch a 'steping stone'. I've seen better celebrated wakes.

We NEED our players and managers showing that it matters.

The Cork players are a pretty joyless bunch in general.
If the Dubs won they would have made a big deal of it.
The GAA still failed miserably in its promotion of yesterdays game.

[snoopdog]

when you hear managers and players saying uts only the league, then how do they expect the paying public to take it seriously.
Its time the gaa woke up and promoted the National League.
36,000 was a terrible attendence for a league final between 2 teams expected to challenge for sam.
Although Easter sunday being a family day was probably not  a great choice either.
Its the same with the All Ireland qualifiers. p1ss poor from HQ

[Gael85]

An official attendance of 36,000.
They could have got another 20,000 at least with a bit of effort, even though you could lay on free flights from Cork and you'd still get shag all Rebels to go.
They should have let the Dublin county board market that game.
Didn't hear any radio ads or anything in the week leading up to the final.
They should have dropped the ticket prices and got the word out.
Such a wasted opportunity.
I can't turn on a radio nowadays without some lad roaring at me about "LEINSTER RUGBY!!"
The blazers in HQ would want to wake up.

excellent thread,the attendances were even worse for Divsion 3&4 Finals,only 8,000 at games,we often hear how counties never get chance to play in Croker and only 8000 shows up at a final,the GAA marketing is a disgrace and when you see Christy Cooney talk about managers receiving payments why doesnt he donate some of his own salary into marketing games?Also I have to praise TnG excellent coverage of league games throughout the season,they put RTE to shame who barely showing a hour of football/hurling a week,They show Premiership soccer saturday and even show Airtricity highlights on a monday night,again the GAA need a progamm like Sideline View to market our games throughout the  year

[Jinxy]

I hope Liam O'Neill does something to shake things up.
He seemed to put a strong emphasis on getting as many people as possible to go to our games.
There needs to be flexibility with pricing and the day/time of fixtures with a view to maximising attendances.
Give the county boards free reign to market/promote their home games.

[IolarCoisCuain]

The Wobbler is correct. A product's marketability is directly related to the worth of the product. Who cares who wins the National League?

If you want to market the National League Final you have to make it a must-attend event. You can't do that when teams aren't that bothered who wins it. I live in Dublin but as a casual (not aligned to any of eight counties in the four finals) fan I wouldn't bother my head going to any of the games. And why should I? There's nothing in it for me. I don't care.

If the GAA wants to market the National League it has to make me care. A few ads on the radio won't do that. The problem is deeper.

What they could do, of course, is bring back the old Championship. The back door safety net means that the very top teams don't take the League seriously because they know they have two bites at the Championship cherry. Closing the back door would be one way of making them pay more attention, or else they could get Tadhgie Murpheyed in the Championship and have a bare cupboard to show for the year. That might get their attention.

[RedandGreenSniper]

The Wobbler is correct. A product's marketability is directly related to the worth of the product. Who cares who wins the National League?

If you want to market the National League Final you have to make it a must-attend event. You can't do that when teams aren't that bothered who wins it. I live in Dublin but as a casual (not aligned to any of eight counties in the four finals) fan I wouldn't bother my head going to any of the games. And why should I? There's nothing in it for me. I don't care.

If the GAA wants to market the National League it has to make me care. A few ads on the radio won't do that. The problem is deeper.

What they could do, of course, is bring back the old Championship. The back door safety net means that the very top teams don't take the League seriously because they know they have two bites at the Championship cherry. Closing the back door would be one way of making them pay more attention, or else they could get Tadhgie Murpheyed in the Championship and have a bare cupboard to show for the year. That might get their attention.

I would agree with you that the counties do not take the league ferociously seriously but, at the same time, the GAA were able to get a full-house for the Dublin v Tyrone game in February of 2009 in Croke Park. That arguably didn't matter a whole pile in the grand scheme of things but that got the crowds in. They ought to have been able to get more than 36,000 there on Sunday. With the Dubs playing, that's a pitiful figure.

[Canalman]

You really had to be at the game yesterday to appreciate how little support Cork had. 1,500 fans at a stretch. Surely even the Cork people in Dublin should have gone in.